Thursday, September 29, 2011

After four days of testing at May clinic, Coach Kill is back on the field working with the Gophers again with a more effective medication.

Kill's seizures continued on a regular basis until he spent the four days at Mayo, under the supervision of a branch of doctors who rank with the best epilepsy experts in the world.

The first practice following Kill's returned was closed to all media, despite the normal protocol of having the first 20 minutes open. Apparently Kill was as upset about the Minnesota loss to NDSU as Gopher fans were. Kill gave the team a piece of his mind as well as sitting down with the seniors and urging them to maintain perseverance.

We will see how effective Kill's return to the home base is when the Gophers play at Michigan this weekend.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

With Coach Kill back on the field after a short stint in the hospital following a seizure on the field at TCF Bank, the Gophers are looking to pick up another win at home this weekend against North Dakota.

North Dakota comes to town this weekend and apparently there could be as many as 20,000 North Dakota State fans coming with the team. Holy smokes. There have been more than 1,000 nights at five downtown hotels.

On Friday night, Bison fans will gather at the Depot in downtown, where dueling pianos will take requests. On Saturday morning, those same fans will head to the State Fairgrounds for a massive midday tailgating party.

I don't know who these fans think they are, but I like them a lot. They know how to party.

The newly married Kris Humphries has received a lot of press lately... not all of it good.

Turns out the former University of Minnesota star has a long history of bad first impressions dating back to his recruitment process during his senior year in high school. On his official visit to Kansas, as a prospective Jayhawk basketball player, Humphries did anything but impress with his off the court social talents.

In an excerpt from "Beyond the Phog: Untold Stories from Kansas Basketball's Most Dominant Decade," former guard Keith Longford expands on why Humphries failed to become a Jayhawk.

"Kris Humpries came on a visit and tried to commit. He really wanted to come here. But no one on the team liked Kris Humphies. He was arrogant. He told everyone he was going to come in and be the leading scorer as a freshman and that we'd all have to take a backseat to him. We were trying to be respectful and not say anything. But he was an absolute jerk. It was tough, because Roy was really excited about his. Kris Humphries was a big deal. He was a one-and-done or a two-and-done kind of player. Roy wanted him to commit on his visit. But we told him, "Coach, you can't bring this guy in. You can't do it." You'd figure Roy would say something like, "Let's work on him," or "Let's give him another chance." Instead he told Humphries, "Sorry, but can't come.""

After being turned down by Kansas, Humphries eventually chose the powerhouse Duke, but changed his mind and came to Minnesota instead.

Unlike Roy Williams, the ex-Minnesota coach (Humphries coach) hold positive feelings for his former player. Dan Monson was even invited to the Kardashian-Humphries wedding. Bliss.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Head coach Jerry Kill has been increasing efforts to get U of M students to Minnesota Gopher home games.

He has passed out free tickets around campus, allowed for students to ling up in the corridor and cheer on the Gopher Men as they storm the field and has campaigned to close off a street for student tailgating four hours before the game.

Let's help the guy out? Get your butts to some Gopher football games! Heading into the weekend, the Gophers are picked as the favorites. Don't miss your shot to catch the Gophers' first win of the year! See ya at TCF!

The Minnesota Gophers are heading in to the weekend as the favorite. I'm not lying.

After a 0-2 start, losing to USC on the road and at home to New Mexico State in a game where Coach Kill was taken to the hospital for seizing, the Gophers are heading into their third game as the outcome favorite.

Miami (OH) has only played one game and sit at 0-1, but it their first game was against Mizzou. The Gophers are heading in to Saturday favored by a wide margin (for the Gophers at least) over Miami.

What is going on?

Miami is a solid team with a good coach that is out of Michigan State and could easily win Saturday's game IF the Gophers don't come out and play a strong four quarters. This weekend the Gophers really need to play tough all game to pull out a win at TCF Bank.

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Minnesota Gophers started Marqueis Gray against USC, but it was true freshman Max Shortell who brought the team within striking distance on Saturday. Gray got injured in the 4th quarter and was treated and told he could go back in the game, but head coach Jerry Kill elected to keep the true freshman in the game. Shortell looked pretty mobile for being 6-6 and he looked very comfortable in the pocket. He threw an interception that ended the game, but he looks like a confident signal caller who has a ton of ability. It'll be interesting to see how Kill uses the two quarterbacks during the season going forward.

The Gophers lost to the USC Trojans in the Colliseum 19-17 last Saturday on ABC. They honestly looked like a competitive football team out there and that's what made that game so weird for me. I can't remember the last time I watched a Gopher football team where the team looked so competitive. This team is going to win some Big Ten games and they definitely won't quit on Jerry Kill this year. I'm really excited to see what kind of team he has in 2-3 years.